Weight Watchers Explains the Skinny on Holiday Desserts

Weight Watchers representative, Lisa Crozier, shows you how you can make the most out of ingredients like butter, cocoa powder, baking chocolate and various nuts so your weight loss efforts aren’t compromised when it comes to having dessert.

Here are some of Lisa’s tips for holiday baking:

1. Take a look at butter:  Unlike shortening and oil, butter greatly enhances the flavor of other ingredients, so a little goes a long way.  Light stick butter, which contains half the fat of regular butter, can be substituted in most baked goods.  As to choosing salted or unsalted butter, know this: the amount of salt in salted butter varies depending on the brand; it can contain from as little as ¼ teaspoon per stick to as much as ¾ teaspoon, so for the most consistent results, we recommend using unsalted butter and adding the precise amount of salt in a recipe.
2.  Don’t compromise on chocolate:  What’s so great about Weight Watchers is that there’s no need to!  There are ways to use chocolate without going overboard on fat and calories.  Unsweetened cocoa delivers serious chocolate taste with less than half the fat of unsweetened baking chocolate.  As for providing a chocolate rush, a mere drizzle of melted bittersweet chocolate will also trump a heftier dose of fat- or sugar-free alternatives.
3. Turn to nuts:  There’s little substitute for the heavenly flavor and buttery texture of nuts.  Be it almonds, pecans or walnuts, each variety offers it own unique taste.  And at Weight Watchers nuts. Toast nuts to intensify their flavor two-fold, so you can use them judiciously.  Sprinkle nuts in top of batters instead of stirring them in, for maximum crunch.

Gooey Brownie Bars Recipe

INGREDIENTS:

1 (10 ¼-oz) packet fudge brownie mix

1/3 cup light stick butter, melted

1 large egg

2 tablespoon water

10 traditional caramels (such as Kraft), unwrapped

1 ½ teaspoon fat-free milk

½ cup pecan halves, toasted and coarsely chopped

¼ cup mini-semisweet chocolate chips

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line eight inch square baking pan with nonstick foil, allowing foil to extend two inches over rim of pan.
2. Whisk brownie mix, melted butter, egg and water in a medium bowl until blended (small lumps are OK).  Scrape batter into prepared pan and spread evenly.  Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out with moist crumbs clinging, 15 minutes.  Transfer to rack.
3. Combine caramels and milk small microwaveable bowl.  Microwave on high until caramels are melted, one minute.  Stir until smooth.  Pour caramel mixture over hot brownie; spread evenly to cover.  Sprinkle top evenly with chocolate chips.  Let stand until chips melt, 10-12 minutes.  Gently spread melted chips into caramel to marbleize.  Cool completely.  Lift brownies from pan using foil as handles; cut into 24 bars.  Cover and chill in airtight container with wax paper between layers up to one week.